Town workers willing to accept pay freeze

CHATHAM – To save the jobs of fellow workers, a group of local municipal employees has offered to freeze $180,000 in pay increases for next year.

SUSAN MILTON

CHATHAM – To save the jobs of fellow workers, a group of local municipal employees has offered to freeze $180,000 in pay increases for next year.

The Chatham Municipal Employees Association is the only employee association or union so far to accept the selectmen’s request to consider a voluntary wage freeze.

The Association, which has about 100 members and represents non-unionized municipal workers, voted unanimously last week to freeze both cost of living increases and step increases if the selectmen agree to no layoffs of its members.

“We’d rather have a pay freeze than people laid off,” association president and Harbor Master Stuart Smith said yesterday. “What are the chances of these people finding jobs if they are laid off? Putting them on the unemployment rolls isn’t good for the economy in general or for the town.”

Across the Cape, a few administrators and managers have given up pay increases or have taken unpaid vacations and pay cuts to help their towns financially. But there have been no reports about voluntary concessions from municipal employees outside of Chatham.

The Chatham firefighters union has declined to accept a wage freeze, selectmen said at their meeting yesterday, adding that union leaders say Chatham firefighters are near the bottom of the region’s pay scale and need to catch up with their peers in other towns.The police union isn’t expected to participate in a wage freeze, Town Manager William Hinchey said.

The selectmen, waiting to hear from Chatham school unions, didn’t take any action on the wage freeze issue last night. The board is scheduled to discuss budget issues again Friday.

“Frankly, the nonunion folks ... are making a fair amount of concessions,” Smith said. “We’re looking forward to other employee groups to make concessions as well, especially the school folks.”

Selectmen David Whitcomb said the offer from the Chatham Municipal Employees Association to freeze wages is appreciated, even if it can be avoided in next year’s budget.

“I see a lot of town employees here. I want to say thank you for this,” Whitcomb said during yesterday’s selectmen meeting. “The fact that they’ve anted up is amazing. I don’t think we’re going to need it. I think we can present a budget to town meeting without this support. Whether we can do it the next year, I don’t know.”